KANGAR: The unemployment rate in Perlis has held steady at 2.0 per cent in the first quarter of 2024, with 2,400 job-seekers unemployed, unchanged from the fourth quarter of 2023.
State Housing, Local Government, Human Resources and Poverty Eradication Committee chairman Asrul Aimran Abd Jalil said this followed a decrease from 3.9 per cent in 2022 to 2.0 per cent in 2023.
"According to the Social Security Organisation (Socso) statistics, 124 workers in Perlis lost their jobs from January to July 5 this year.
"Socso's records show that there were 236,274 job seekers on the MYFutureJobs portal nationwide during this period, with 2,400 of them from Perlis.
"Socso and the Perlis government will work to stimulate the labour market in Perlis to reduce unemployment," he said during the state legislative assembly sitting today.
Asrul (Perikatan Nasional-Kayang) was responding to a query from Fakhrul Anwar Ismail (PN-Bintong) regarding the state's unemployment rate.
Asrul said that the Perlis government, in collaboration with the private sector, would create job opportunities through the Chuping Valley Industrial Area and Perlis Inland Port from early next year.
"Additionally, Socso's Wage Guide System will help Technical and Vocational Training (TVET) graduates make informed career choices, and the MYFutureJobs Career Launchpad Programme will enhance higher education students' readiness for the workforce," he added.
Responding to queries from Gan Ay Ling (Pakatan Harapan-Indera Kayangan) on income statistics for the state, Asrul said Perlis had shown a rise in median and average monthly salaries from 2021 to 2022.
"Based on surveys conducted by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), there were 72,800 wage earners in Perlis in 2022.
"From 2021 until 2022, the median monthly salary increased to RM1,872 in 2022 from RM1,797 in 2021, and the average monthly salary rose to RM2,777 in 2022 from RM2,588 in 2021," he added.